Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Dec 2015
- Posts
- 18,514
Cant link Alohacool , you'll have to Google it .
There's a fill port on the unit as well as the hoses connected via proper compression fittings. Can just undo then to empty
Water cooling on a budget
- Thread starter britain4
- Start date
Cant link Alohacool , you'll have to Google it .
There's a fill port on the unit as well as the hoses connected via proper compression fittings. Can just undo then to empty
Ah ok cheers anyway, I did google but their site isn’t the most helpful haha
That actually sounds really good and a lot less hassle than a traditional custom loop...
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Dec 2015
- Posts
- 18,514
Can't mention the UK site but begins to Aqua T .
Alohacool , Heatkiller ( now producing Corsair kit) and aquacomputer are sort of a groupie company in German and use AquaT to ship their gear retail side
Well I did it again yesterday - after a malt or two I might have bought the watercooling gear that's been sat in my eBay basket for a couple of weeks...
I picked out some Chinese blocks and pump but only parts I could find positive reviews on - as I have been advised in this thread the pump and fittings are the main parts you shouldn't cheap out on so I'm not sure whether to try this one or go straight to a better pump. Might give it a try and make sure I've got a failure alarm on it.
Corsair SP120 fans - 6 generic packaged ones for £14! I already have two of them so I've got 8 good fans now for whatever push pull combo and case fans I should need.
I gave the cheap aluminium rads the swerve as I don't want to be dealing with mixing metals and will be going for something like this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/magicool-g2-slim-radiator-16-fpi-360mm-wc-024-ma.html
I also need some fittings and I won't be using the cheap ones so something like this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/bits...flow-7-16-fitting-shiny-silver-wc-128-bp.html
Needless to say the blocks are my main concern as far as leaking goes so will be running for 24 hours outside the system and if I have any doubts about the quality of them after stripping down and reassembling then I'm abandoning the idea. Got a feeling if there are any issues it won't be anything PTFE tape and/or liquid gasket can't fix but we'll see. The rad and fans will be the biggest expense so even if the cheap blocks and pump turn out to be junk I haven't wasted much money and I can start shopping for some better ones... I guess... I have to stop making drunk eBay purchases but hopefully this will all work out! Always wanted to watercool a PC!
I picked out some Chinese blocks and pump but only parts I could find positive reviews on - as I have been advised in this thread the pump and fittings are the main parts you shouldn't cheap out on so I'm not sure whether to try this one or go straight to a better pump. Might give it a try and make sure I've got a failure alarm on it.
Corsair SP120 fans - 6 generic packaged ones for £14! I already have two of them so I've got 8 good fans now for whatever push pull combo and case fans I should need.
I gave the cheap aluminium rads the swerve as I don't want to be dealing with mixing metals and will be going for something like this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/magicool-g2-slim-radiator-16-fpi-360mm-wc-024-ma.html
I also need some fittings and I won't be using the cheap ones so something like this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/bits...flow-7-16-fitting-shiny-silver-wc-128-bp.html
Needless to say the blocks are my main concern as far as leaking goes so will be running for 24 hours outside the system and if I have any doubts about the quality of them after stripping down and reassembling then I'm abandoning the idea. Got a feeling if there are any issues it won't be anything PTFE tape and/or liquid gasket can't fix but we'll see. The rad and fans will be the biggest expense so even if the cheap blocks and pump turn out to be junk I haven't wasted much money and I can start shopping for some better ones... I guess... I have to stop making drunk eBay purchases but hopefully this will all work out! Always wanted to watercool a PC!
Could you give us a link to information about upcoming Alphacool Extreme AIO having D5 pump please? If using D5 pump I assume the price is substantially higher than current Eisbaer / Kelvin / Silent Loop models ..alphacool eisbaer- actual AIO that can be expanded and copper rad and thicker tubing . newer versions will be shipped with bequiet pure wings soon and the extreme version has D5 Pump and Silent Wing 3 fans on that should challenge likes of NZXT AIO for pricing ...
*not sure if they stated D5 pump yet...opps*
I tested be quiet! Silent Loop 280mm and really like it .. it cools well and is very quiet. It is the only AIO (not CLC) I have used that has been in service longer than it took to test and review.
Bit late now, but if you're water-cooling on the cheap the first thing to drop is the the GPU block. In my experience it's not worth it if you are interested in performance, minimal o/c gains to be had. Should be a lot quieter and a lot cooler (30+ deg in my experience) but none of this translates into performance.
And unless you're buying a 1080ti which has no obvious upgrade available, any money you spend on better cooling for your GPU would be better spent just buying a better GPU in the first place. Applies whether your buying used or new.
And unless you're buying a 1080ti which has no obvious upgrade available, any money you spend on better cooling for your GPU would be better spent just buying a better GPU in the first place. Applies whether your buying used or new.
I definitely get where you’re coming from. I’m fully aware there are minimal performance gains but it’s frustrating being limited by temps when I think the card could clock slightly further.
More relevantly to why I want to do it though it sounds like a jet taking off and sits at 80 degrees + in games.. can’t be doing the card any good and it’s very bloody loud. Quieter and cooler is what I’m going for and any more OC would be a bonus.
I’m also doing it because it looks fun and I like taking on a project now and again!
Last edited:
It is fun! But also a bit of a pain at times. Another reason I stopped w/cing the GPU is it turns a GPU upgrade from a 5m job to a 2 or 3 hour one. Could use QDCs but it's not like I change GPUs every month .
Probably to do with getting old, I can't be bothered with all the complication. I massively simplified the loop last upgrade, switched all compression fittings to barbs, removed all rotary fittings, drain port as well. I drain the loop once every 3-4 years, wasn't worth having it there just for that.
Probably to do with getting old, I can't be bothered with all the complication. I massively simplified the loop last upgrade, switched all compression fittings to barbs, removed all rotary fittings, drain port as well. I drain the loop once every 3-4 years, wasn't worth having it there just for that.
I don't think I would do that, I would either get good air cooling, or good water cooling, seems like a really bad thing to cheap out on with parts from unknown brands etc. because if the water cooling leaks etc. that is going to get water on your PC.... which is not good. I would do it properly and either get good water cooling from a brand like EK etc. or get a good air cooler like noctua etc. I would be a lot more worried about the random brand watercooling leaking, than the heavy heatsink of an air cooler etc. I have a D15 now and do like the look of watercooling, but every time I add up the price of even just a CPU loop with good components, it is about 400+ or more like 700+ with GPU as well, which is a lot for slightly better temps, although it does look nice.
You could just get a new graphics card, with the amount the watercooling would cost + selling your 780ti, if you get a good one with a big heatsink, they are quiet in normal use.
So for example a 780ti not limited by temps might perform 5% better, then a 980ti or 1070 etc. with a decent air cooler on it would perform 40% better.
Yeah I’m trying to keep it simple as I can haha. None of the things you mentioned and no mixing metals. QDCs on the GPU would make things easier but I can’t see myself swapping it for a while yet.
I get where you’re coming from. It’s definitely a gamble but I’m just hoping I’ll be able to tell from having a good look at the blocks whether or not they’re likely to leak. Worst case I’m £30 down on the blocks + pump and I don’t use them. Best case I can use them and I’ve spent 1/4 of what I needed to to fulfil my needs. I’ll probably end up getting rid of it and going to air in 6 months anyway but I need to try it
True again but if I got a new card I’d want to watercool it (even if it didn’t really need it I’d still end up doing it anyway) and I should be able to transfer the block over to it when I do. So I can’t factor in the cost of watercooling it. I don’t think I could sell it and get anything better without putting some more money into the new card and I don’t think I really need anything better since I only play at 1080p, the most demanding game I play is Witcher 3 and it runs that on Ultra just fine. I could upgrade the card and spend more money but then ive got a card that’s more powerful than I really need for now and still no watercooling like I wanted lol.
I’m not looking at watercooling for raw gaming performance, it’s a combination of primarily noise but also looks, because it looks fun, and potentially higher clocks would be a nice bonus
To be honest air cooling can be very quiet, although water cooling on the CPU does look good. You seem to be pretty set on getting water cooling so I will leave you to it But just saying that for example a Noctua D15 and a GPU with good air cooling, can also have almost no noise, cheap watercooling might be louder, as the radiator is normally at top of the case and also the pump makes noise.
But just saying that for example a Noctua D15 and a GPU with good air cooling, can also have almost no noise, cheap watercooling might be louder, as the radiator is normally at top of the case and also the pump makes noise.
Last edited:
To be honest air cooling can be very quiet, although water cooling on the CPU does look good. You seem to be pretty set on getting water cooling so I will leave you to it
Hehe, yeah I’ve wanted to have a go at it for years so I feel ready to take the plunge now
I may well end up going with air in the end but had to try it at some point and see what happens. When I do I can hopefully sell the Magicool rad and won’t have lost much on the blocks.
Rad is definitely going at the front of the case. Keep going back and forth between the versaitility of a Fractal R6 or the compact size of a Corsair 400C but either will accommodate it. We’ll see how the pump is, sounds like luck of the draw, some reviews say silent, some say a bit noisy!
Soldato
I've now moved from GPU blocks and custom loops to Kraken G10/G12 and a used AIO. Now when I upgrade cards, I can move the Kraken AIO setups with minimal fuss and zero expense. Still have a couple of custom loops for GPU and CPU but they're much more hassle.
Certainly seems the sensible way of doing it! If it wasn’t a 780 ti I didn’t want to spend £30 on a bracket for (well two of them now...) I would certainly consider that route.
As it is, the blocks + pump have arrived now, the pump looks OK, I’ll reserve judgement until I plug it in. Does have some quite nice Syscooling stickers on it and came in a custom Syscooling anti stat bag which was a nice touch. Certainly doesn’t appear bad quality for the money and comes with a couple of different mounts + hose clamps.
The blocks actually look pretty nice quality, nice thick acrylic top and a copper base. Nice simple design and it looks like the O ring is sealed up good. Will disassemble and clean before fitting but I have no concerns about the quality from a quick glance. Just need a rad, some tubing and decent fittings now!